DOORS!

[SerHogan]

The PCs approach a room with a door. What does the door look like? What's it made of? Does it open in or out? Where are the hinges? Can I look under it? Can I look in a key hole?

There are many, many doors in a dungeon - adventure - campaign.

I can't take time to describe them all. I don't want time to describe them all. And yet they are important and so are their descriptive details.

Does anyone know of an RPG or D&D resource that gives details of different types of doors? Random door generator charts???

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Random door generation charts are usually in the DMG. For example, in 5E they're in the DMG on page 291.

 

[LordEntrails]

Every door shouldn't be unique.

Almost all the doors in your house look the same. I've got a front door, exterior doors and interior doors. 3 types, that's all.

IMO, you should have 1 or 2 types of generic doors and then you can detail unique doors as needed.

 

[Dioltach]

All the detail you really need is a sign that says, "These premises are guarded by a watch dragon."

 

[GMMichael]

Or "abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

If you have some extra time, Ser, perhaps you'd go to ENWorld's OGRE and make a door generator for us? I couldn't find a dungeon room generator, so I made one. But the exits to the rooms are without detail...

 

[le grand fromage]

Living in rural France I often see doors I think would make good "dungeon doors" so I snap off a photo on my phone for later reference, Disneyland Paris also had one or two good examples...it helps no end to convey the atmosphere, when you're describing something you can actually see! If you don't live in mainland Europe I guess pin interest might be an option?

 

[Sunseeker]

All the detail you really need is a sign that says, "These premises are guarded by a watch dragon."

Yes but the real question then becomes: is it a wind-up or battery-operated watch dragon?

 

[MNblockhead]

I usually have a sense of the building's or dungeon's construction that I can describe on the fly or I'll write out a description for special doors ahead of time. But if I'm feeling uninspired or, if just for fun, I want to randomize my creation, I use an old book that a friend of mine gave me for x-mas last year:

Robert sassone, Central Casting: Dungeons: The Ultimate Dungeon Construction Guide (Task Force Games 1993), you can find used copies on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Central-Casting-Dungeons-Robert-Sassone/dp/0922335524

It isn't on DriveThruRPG and I'm not sure if there is anywhere to get it print-on-demand or any legal sources of it in PDF format.

But it had multiple tables for door possibilities and as part of the description of various dungeon elements.

It is really meant ot be a tool to create a fully realized dungeon, including history and background, but if you just want some ideas for doors, see the following pages:

Page 13. Starting Dungeon Construction: The Entrance
Page 14. Starting Dungeon Construction: Entrance Features
Pages 19-23: Doors and Corridors, esp. tables 152 and 153 ("Door Possibilities"), 162 ("Door Specials"), 170 ("Standard Additional Entrances"), 171 ("Reduced Additional Entrances")

This books is very old-school D&D in its mechanics and flavor, wheras my 5e games are much more story focused. If I had to build a random dungeon on the fly, in-game, I would use the tables in the DMG. This books is fun situations in between. I use it when prepping ahead and just want to roll some dice and see if they can inspire me into building something I might not have come up with.

I especially like to use this book to prep games for my young boys and their friends. These little murder hobos are just going to frustrate me if I try to run a modern adventure path. But with this book and Inkwell Idea's Dungeonographer, I can quickly whip of a nice dungeon crawl for a 2-4 hour session with the kiddos.

 

[MNblockhead]

Living in rural France I often see doors I think would make good "dungeon doors" so I snap off a photo on my phone for later reference, Disneyland Paris also had one or two good examples...it helps no end to convey the atmosphere, when you're describing something you can actually see! If you don't live in mainland Europe I guess pin interest might be an option?

That's a great idea. I created a random table of chests in Realm Works, where I copied pictures of various period-appropriate chests from museum, auction, and other websites and wrote up the specifications for them (weight, description, use, etc.), and I include the pictures to help me describe them.

I find that I almost never use the table, but in the process of putting it together, I've gotten much better in describing chests and came up with some fun challenges and plots build around some unique constructions or historical uses I would not have known about if I didn't spend the time browsing museum and auction sites.

You should take your photos, and create a PDF with a description of where that door was used and come up with some specification using DMG guidelines (like CR and HP for destroying it, DC for picking it, etc.). I think you could sell quite a few copies if sold on DM Guild for USD 0.50 to USD 2.00